The invention relates to the securing of buttons onto fabrics or similar surfaces.
Various devices have already been proposed for securing buttons without sewing or using a needle and thread.
For example, a known device comprises a flexible attachment having a central part arranged to be looped through openings in a button, this central part being limited by two shoulders which can be brought together and made to apply on an outer face of a fabric. These shoulders are extended by pointed barbed ends which can be brought together and pierced through a fabric into an opening in a backing plate, so that the fabric is gripped between said shoulders and the backing plate. This device has the advantage of providing a desired spacing between the button and the fabric. However, although the device provides a satisfactory securing of buttons, it involves two drawbacks: firstly, the bringing together of the two ends of the attachment to form a "needle" which is passed through the fabric is a tedious operation; secondly, it necessarily involves the use of a separate backing plate which can inconvenience the wearer of a garment who secures a button in this manner.
In another known device, a backing plate is made integrally with a thread whose end is pointed to form a needle. The needle/thread is passed through the fabric, then through openings or a loop of a button, back through the fabric, then attached in any manner to the backing plate and its end is cut off. This device has the advantage of being formed in a single piece, for example by moulding. However, it has the disadvantages that there is no provision for ensuring a predetermined spacing between the fabric and the button, the fabric is not firmly gripped against the backing plate, and the rigid backing plate behind the fabric is inaesthetic and may inconvenience the wearer of a garment who secures a button using this device.
The invention aims to obviate the disadvantages of the known devices and to enable the securing of a button, without using a needle and thread, with a suitable spacing from a fabric but without creating any appreciable added thickness on the inside of the fabric.